1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for executing a test for verifying the restoration from an error, such as a jam, that has occurred on an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional system provides information for allowing a user of an image forming apparatus and a service engineer to identify the location and the cause of an error that has occurred on an image forming apparatus (an apparatus such as a printer, a copying machine, or a multifunction peripheral (MFP)).
In this regard, a method discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-091217 outputs a page including error information during a job in order to readily identify the location of an output error (an error that does not require the suspension of printing such as an image rasterization error or insufficient memory) that may occur during print processing of a plurality of sheets. If an error has occurred, the conventional method acquires the type of the output paper for a page previous to the page on which the error has occurred and print information including the size of the paper or the orientation of the sheet. In addition, the conventional method generates a job using an output paper whose type, size, or orientation is different from that described in the acquired information. Thus, the page on which the error has occurred can be easily identified from among a plurality of output pages. Furthermore, the content of the error can be easily recognized by referring to the output sheet including the error information.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 05-270622 discusses a method for recording the history of a jam and displaying the content of the jam in order to enable a service engineer to easily recognize the cause of the jam. If a jam has occurred, the method records, on a jam history memory, the location of the jam, the location of a paper feed cassette which is a paper feed source of the jammed sheet, the size of the jammed sheet, and the print condition used at the time of the jam such as the print mode. By displaying the above-described information, the conventional method can allow the user or a service engineer to easily identify the cause of the jam according to the print condition.
A paper conveyance unit provided inside an image forming apparatus (an apparatus such as a printer, a copying machine, or an MFP) includes various sensors for detecting a sheet. If paper jamming (hereinafter simply referred to as a “jam”) occurs, the jam is detected by the sensors. If a jam frequently occurs at the same location, a service engineer executes a maintenance operation such as the replacement of parts.
In executing a maintenance to solve a jam, the service engineer executes a test for simulating the jam to identify the location and the cause of the jam and another test for verifying that the jam has been solved after the maintenance. In this regard, the tests should be executed with the print setting with which the sheet used in the test is conveyed through the location of the jam. Accordingly, it is necessary that the service engineer can identify the print setting with which the sheet is conveyed through the jam location. In addition, it is necessary for the service engineer to execute a job after performing a print setting every time the test is executed.
With the method discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-091217, a service engineer can identify the page on which an error has occurred and recognize the content of the error. However, a test job for simulating the error is not generated. Accordingly, it is necessary for the service engineer, in executing the maintenance after recognizing the content of the error, to newly generate a test job and perform a print setting for the job before executing the test.
If an error has occurred, the method discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-091217 acquires information such as error information, information about an output paper sheet previous to the sheet for the page on which an error has occurred, and print information such as either of the size or the orientation of the sheet. Accordingly, the print setting for the page to be output including the error information may include limited information, namely, the type of the output paper sheet and the size or the orientation thereof.
The method discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 05-270622 enables a service engineer to estimate the cause of the jam by referring to information about the location of the jam and attribute information of the job in which the jam has occurred, which is previously recorded and displayed on a screen of the apparatus. However, in simulating the jam during the maintenance, it is necessary for the service engineer to verify all possible cases that may be the cause of the jam and perform each print setting before executing a job for the test.